


An Exception

by Trifoliate_undergrowth



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Anxiety, Banter, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hermann is bad at showing affection but loves being Newt hugged, Hermann still has trauma about being picked on as a kid, Hugs, M/M, Newton Geiszler Has ADHD, and can zone out so powerfully, and is DETERMINED to not be The Weird Guy as an adult, autistic hermann and newt, he misses stuff happening right in front of him, he was thinkn abt kaiju..., in which hermann fckign SNAPS, is 'unhinged and sleep-deprived Hermann' becoming a Thing for me??, is there a tag 4 Hermann hitting people with his cane, mood..., mostly newmann bonding interactions, nothing explicitly romantic can be seen as pre-slash, there should be, this is the 2nd of those, which can be its own problem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26916466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trifoliate_undergrowth/pseuds/Trifoliate_undergrowth
Summary: “What?” said Newton. Hermann turned, and found him looking back and forth as if trying to figure out who’d spoken to him. “Did—did someone say something?”Hermann stared. The crack of bone was echoing in his head, even louder than the alarms still blaring. He could feel the shock of it in his arm. “I’m wearing two layers of sound protection and somehow you’re the one that missed that?”[OR: Hermann endures an emergency drill and seeing Newt in his pajamas, commits a crime, and flees the mortifying ordeal of being known.]
Relationships: Newton Geiszler & Hermann Gottlieb
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	An Exception

Emergency drills weren’t all that bad, Hermann thought as he checked the time and applied his earplugs. Emergency drills _that you were prepared for_ were an irritant, but one that you could deal with, and he understood and respected the need to ensure that everyone was prepared in case of a real emergency. _Unexpected_ emergency drills were in a class of their own, a special kind of hell. This, however? If he knew it was coming, he could deal with it. He wouldn’t like it, but he was used to having to deal with things he didn’t like.

He didn’t like wandering around in public in his pajamas, so he was still dressed. It might make him stand out a little but he preferred the “I look weird for my clothes, which I personally like and am comfortable in” discomfort to the “I look weird in my pajamas” discomfort. Wearing pajamas around strangers felt bad.

So he was dressed, he’d taken a bit of a nap but woken up in time to be alert and emotionally prepared for the drill, and he added headphones over his earplugs because 1. extra noise protection was good and 2. he felt weird about openly wearing earplugs in public, because that was Not a Normal Thing to Do for some reason, despite the Shatterdome being so unpleasantly echoey at times.

Now he waited. He hoped he didn’t get the time wrong. If he had to just sit here like this, in suspense, for however long it took to—

The alarms went off. Good.

His faint sense of relief was overwhelmed by an _immediate_ fatigue as the vibrations of the blaring alarm bored through his body. His mind went fuzzy. This was going to be an ordeal to get through. But he would get through it! He was prepared and he was going to get through it, though he was apparently _not_ as emotionally prepared as he had hoped. _Ugh_.

He was tired. He might not even take his clothes off when he got back from this, he might just pass out immediately, as he was. He snatched up his cane and walked into the hallway.

Few emergencies were dire enough to touch the Shatterdome, but they did exist: severe storm, earthquake, tsunami and kaiju attack (in those cases in which the kaiju got closer than they were generally supposed to, and threatened the building’s integrity) were all grouped together as emergencies that required evacuation to the downstairs citadel. The walk there was actually longer and had more stairs than the walk to the outdoors stations (for fire and other indoor hazards—presumably, if Newt managed to spill enough kaiju blue on himself, he would become an indoor hazard. _That_ was a thought), but at the end of it, you were at least indoors rather than outdoors, which Hermann generally preferred.

To his surprise, he seemed to be one of the first people out. He looked up and down the hallway just in time to see a few sleepy neighbors stumble into the corridor and set off at a purposeful military jog. Newton was not among them. Unless he’d left already? No, he doubted even Newton was that speedy, at least at this hour. He stepped forwards and rapped on the door with his cane.

“Newton, are you up?”

He heard a muffled “What?”

“Come on, Newton. Drill time.”

“Whaaat?”

A few moments later the door opened, and Newton was blinking incoherently up at him. He looked entirely different without his glasses. He was… he was. He was barefoot, wearing a black T-shirt with the word MONSTERFUCKER in neon green slimy font and galaxy print boxers.

They stared at each other in mutual disbelief for a few moments. Newton tugged the hem of his shirt lower in a sudden reflex of modesty. “UM, excuse me??”

“You’re going out like that?” said Hermann, unable to think of anything else to say. He was pretty sure this experience had robbed him of the single still-functioning brain cell in his skull.

“Uhh, no? Where? It’s not—this isn’t an attack right? What’s going on?”

“You didn’t read your email did you.”

“What?”

Of course not. Newton never checked his emails. “Emergency drill, Newton! Come on, we’re going to be late!”

Newton stared at him for a couple seconds longer as this information worked its way into his sleep-slowed psyche. “Oh! Ok yeah one sec I need to put on real pants!”

Hermann sighed. They were wasting time. But also. He couldn’t just… tell Newton to _not_ wear pants. The maniac might just do it. That would… no. _No_.

He could just leave without him. But he was already standing here. He felt like he’d committed himself to waiting and leaving with Newton, and he’d already wasted some time in pursuit of that, so he might as well continue to stand here and watch Newton fumbling around his absolute wreck of a room, checking five different locations for his glasses before finding them on his bed (oof, how many of those did he break and have to replace on a monthly basis?) and then rummaging through a pile of clothes draped over a chair.

“Newton!” he called when he thought Newton was taking longer than necessary to pick something. Newton snatched something from the bottom of the pile and squirmed into it on his way to the door.

They were electric blue pajama pants, slightly too small for him, patterned with dinosaur skeletons. Okay, whatever, more decent than before.

“Shoes?” said Hermann, but Newton just shrugged and closed the door behind him.

Hermann cringed to see him walking with his bare feet directly on the cold, gross, dirty, metal floor but okay whatever, that obviously didn’t bother Newton the way it would have bothered him and he should just stop thinking about _how rarely, if ever_ , this floor was cleaned and about how _gross_ it would feel to have the grime sticking to your unprotected skin and how _dirty_ his feet were going to be by the time they got downstairs… yes correct he should _stop_ thinking about all of that. None of his business! _He_ was doing just fine! Sort of! He desperately wanted to be unconscious!!

They reached the stairs (ohhh God the stairs) towards the end of the main crush of people, but not so far back that he felt self-conscious about being one of the last ones in. Which was good, because it took him a bit longer than everyone else to get down the stairs, so they were going to be… farther towards the back by the time they actually reached the citadel. He pressed himself close to the handrail and tried to leave as much room as possible for people to get around him. Newton, completely oblivious, descended the stairs right at his elbow, matching his pace, smacking shoulders with everyone who tried to get around them. It was simultaneously infuriating and endearing. More infuriating than endearing, but then everything was infuriating at this hour. He tried to focus solely on getting down the stairs in a timely, yet minimally painful, manner. The alarm was still loud, echoing off the walls of the stairwell. You’d think it would be dampened somewhat, but if anything it felt worse down here.

For some reason there was a little stationary knot of people at the bottom of the stairs, on Hermann’s side, directly ahead of him. He started calculating whether it would be easier to push through them or leave the rail and cross to the other side and pass them like that. He faintly heard someone say his name and looked up. Someone was waving at him, from the group, which was still just chilling there, right at the bottom of the both busy and loud stairwell, not moving out of his (and everyone’s) way, just standing there. A person he felt like he should recognize was making eye contact for some ungodly reason. Didn’t he know no one wanted to socialize at this hour?? Who in the world wanted social interaction? They all wanted to be dead right now! Stop looking at me!

He gave a polite wave.

A few seconds later he recognized the man as Antony, one of the Jaeger techs. Hit it off with Newton because he collected Kaiju trading cards. Acted like he was also friends with Hermann because they had worked together a couple times. Hermann did not like overly friendly people (intimidating and offensive) or people who assumed they were his friends because they had talked to him once ( _not_ true, that’s _barely_ acquaintance level) but Antony meant well so he tried to be nice. He tried very hard. He was, currently, trying very very hard to get down these stairs and Antony was standing _directly_ in front of him, smiling very big and saying something.

“What?” he said. He’d just heard the “help” part.

“Do you need help?” Antony repeated.

“No, thank you.” He had a system, refined over years of dealing with stairs, and refreshed and adapted to the moment on today’s trip down. It worked fine if he was given space. Just a little space. Just about the amount of space Antony was now so politely taking up with his stupid goddamn body. “I just need some space,” he gestured to the step Antony was on as gently as he could manage. Antony did not move.

“Okay, you sure?” He reached for him, as if to help him down the stairs.

The last time Hermann accepted “help” with stairs four people fell down and someone got a concussion. The two times before that the only price was his comfort and dignity, but that was also a heavy price. “Help” from well-meaning strangers (or acquaintances, who were practically strangers) usually consisted of them grabbing him (one of his least favorite sensations) and then gently pulling in entirely the wrong direction just enough to put his balance at risk while not providing enough support for him to really lean on them even if he’d wanted to which he never did.

“No, I don’t need help,” Herman said, louder, trying to inch around Antony and pass him on the other side.

Antony grabbed his upper arm, presumably to help him down the step. Hermann twirled his cane, bringing it down on Antony’s wrist with a sharp crack.

Antony let go immediately.

Antony also gave a faint gasp and backed into his friends, doubled over and cradling his hand. One of his friends grabbed him, swore, gave Hermann a disbelieving look, and then the group scattered.

………..well the good news was he had a clear path to the door now.

“What?” said Newton. Hermann turned, and found him looking back and forth as if trying to figure out who’d spoken to him. “Did—did someone say something?”

Hermann stared. The crack of bone was echoing in his head, even louder than the alarms still blaring. He could feel the shock of it in his arm. “I’m wearing two layers of sound protection and somehow _you’re_ the one that missed that?”

“What??” said Newton, loudly. Right, the alarms. That would make it harder to notice anything, even if you weren’t a professional at zoning right out of reality like Newton was. Also, he remembered, Newton sometimes took a couple moments to process what had been said to him even when he was fully awake and in work mode. And this was… not that time.

“Nevermind,” he said. Newton leaned a little closer, giving him a blank, searching look. “NEVER MIND. IT’S NOT IMPORTANT… LET’S GO… WHERE IT’S LESS LOUD,” he gestured to the citadel. Newton evidently got that and nodded emphatically, turning and bouncing down the last several steps, then turning to wait for him.

Hermann paused on the last step, weighing the discomfort of hearing the alarms with no protection against the discomfort of taking off his… likely-to-be-considered-excessive layers of ear protection in front of the entire citadel. Which he would have to do, because he _couldn’t_ just avoid talking to people, considering what had just happened. He was going to have to explain himself. Right. He pulled off his headphones, took out his earplugs and put them in his pocket, then hurried for the door, eager for… _less_ noise. Not that the citadel was _quiet_. But it was _less_ loud.

As soon as he got inside he was reminded of what he’d just done, because he made a moment of deeply uncomfortable eye contact with Antony, who was currently talking to someone. They both moved quickly away from him. Actually, several people moved away from him.

Under other circumstances he would’ve been relieved to have been given some breathing space, but at the moment it felt more like he’d been identified as a leper. He could feel his face burning. He was glad at least he’d taken his ear protection off. He didn’t want to stand out. He wanted to disappear.

“Oh my God did they bring snacks?” said Newton, brushing past him. Hermann forced himself to follow.

Ahead of them, Tendo Choi, wearing a vintage dressing-gown over a blue two-piece pajama set, was balancing five donuts on the back of his hand and a foam cup of some beverage in the other. “Free donuts were the one good part of school drills,” he was saying. From the other side of the table, miss Mori was giving him a softly judgemental look, while pouring a frankly shocking amount of sugar into her own cup. She could have been wearing workout clothes except for the fluffy slippers.

“What’s this? What’s this?” said Newton, putting his face within an inch of the donuts.

“Help yourself,” said miss Mori. “Tendo’s idea.”

“Good idea,” said Tendo, somehow managing to take a bite out of two donuts simultaneously without unbalancing the stack.

“Ooooh,” said Newton, selecting a donut with the same care he showed to his kaiju specimens.

“We’ve also got hot chocolate,” said miss Mori, and Newton straightened up.

“Oooooooh!” he went off towards the chocolate, leaving an empty space between Hermann and the table. Miss Mori made eye contact.

_Death death I wish for death!_

Say something normal. Say hello.

His throat had closed up.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Mmm,” he said in what he hoped sounded like a confirmation.

Newton turned around—he’d acquired another donut, was holding a cup of cocoa in the other hand, and had the uneaten half of the first donut in his mouth. He looked perfectly happy with this moment of his life. Good for him. “Hermmm—ngg, Gottlieb grab a donut!”

He just nodded, not wanting to have to form all the words necessary to express that he wasn’t hungry. Newton squinted at him.

“U k dude?”

He nodded.

“It’s late,” said Tendo, blessedly, inhaling an entire donut _while he was speaking_ in blatant disregard of physics. “I definitely do not want to be awake right now.”

“Same,” Hermann forced out, with what felt like a smile. He thought it was a smile. Hopefully that was a smile. The others seemed satisfied, so maybe it was a smile, or close enough to a smile.

If he died right here right now he would not have to endure the rest of this drill! He wouldn’t be awake and hearing bad noises and awake and also aware of what he just did to Antony! That was sounding more appealing by the second!

“Newt… interesting shirt,” said Tendo.

Newton looked down at himself in silence for a couple moments. “It’s a joke,” he said finally. “I’m uh. Wearing it ironically.”

“Sure,” said Tendo.

“One of my Instagram followers sent it to me,” said Newton. “Like, as a meme.”

Miss Mori’s head shot up. “You have an _Instagram_?”

“Forget that,” said Tendo, “You get _fanmail_? What are you posting, thirst trap tattoo pics with science-y captions?”

Miss Mori wheezed. “Look at my pecs! Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell!”

“No!” said Newton, not very convincingly.

“Evening,” said Marshall Pentecost, joining the table at miss Mori’s side and fortunately canceling the increasingly uncomfortable conversation. Pentecost was wearing a T-shirt, stretched tight over his shoulders, and sweatpants. _Marshall Pentecost owned sweatpants and presumably slept like a normal person_. He gave Newton a suspicious look, then, seeing that he was contentedly munching a donut, relaxed and swept the rest of the room with an appraising glance which passed over Hermann and then returned to him.

“Mr. Gottlieb. Is everything alright?”

Hermann swallowed. “I believe I’ve just committed a crime.”

Marshall Pentecost looked confused. “A crime.”

“Arson!” said Tendo, grinning, obviously not taking this seriously.

“Piracy?” suggested miss Mori.

“Sleeping in your clothes?” said Newton.

“Assault,” said Hermann, faintly but clearly.

Newton laughed.

Newton stopped laughing. “Wait, you’re serious?”

“I ah—had an altercation with Antony the tech in the stairwell and I—believe I might have broken his wrist,” said Hermann.

Marshall Pentecost put his head in his hands, muttering something. Tendo just kind of stared at him, forgetting to chew his donut. Miss Mori was looking at her father with concern. Hermann wanted to die.

“Okay but—when?? I was, I was right there with you,” said Newton, “I would have seen that, right? But I don’t remember literally anything about—oh. I zoned out, didn’t I.”

“Presumably,” said Hermann.

Newton slapped his thigh. “Oh my GOD! You broke Antony’s WRIST and I MISSED that?!”

He… sounded more upset about “missing that” than that Antony had a broken wrist. He’d never understand Newton.

“ _You_ did this?” asked Marshall Pentecost, looking up.

“Yes sir.”

Marshall Pentecost scanned the crowd. “That man over there?”

Hermann turned. Yep, that was Antony, still holding his wrist, visibly distressed. “That’s him, yes.”

“Stay here,” Pentecost put down his hot chocolate and walked away.

Hermann wrapped his arms around himself.

“Assault,” said Tendo in an indescribable tone of voice. And then took another bite of donut.

“Right,” said Hermann.

“Radical,” said Tendo.

Newton brushed up beside him. He leaned into the touch and Newton slung an arm over his shoulder.

“… _How_ did I miss that?”

“Don’t know,” said Hermann. The gentle pressure of Newton’s arm was comforting, especially since Newton wasn’t avoiding him; which would have been entirely understandable considering he’d just admitted to injuring his friend. He’d never understand Newton, but for the moment he was glad to give it up and just accept that he was still here.

“Cocoa?” said miss Mori, and he realized she was offering him a cup. He took it.

“Thank you.” Maybe that would help. He doubted it. Worth a try.

If he was going to die he’d rather die with warm hot chocolate in his stomach and Newton beside him. Not that he was going to die, he was being dramatic. Jail? How did the PPDC deal with crime in its ranks? Surely not lightly. He wasn’t military but he was in their employ, how did that work? What was the legal system like in China?

He burned his tongue on the cocoa, coughed, and sipped more carefully. That was very nice actually. He tried to focus on drinking it without burning himself and not on… everything else. Newton, who was standing on tiptoes to comfortably keep his arm around his shoulders, slid back down to his regular height and shifted to holding onto his arm.

Marshall Pentecost returned abruptly. There was too much general noise for him to hear footsteps.

“I’ve exempted Mr. Antony and one of the doctors from the rest of the drill to go upstairs and treat his hand,” he said. “I also asked him for his version of the event, and according to him, he was “just trying to help you” and you suddenly struck him with your cane. Is this correct?”

“Yes sir,” said Hermann.

“Now hold on,” said Newton. “Look, I think I’m generally considered pretty annoying, yeah? Right? And you’ve never snapped _my_ wrist like a couple of twigs. Which, by the way, terrifying and badass, go you. So, he must’ve done something _really_ annoying to deserve that.”

Marshall Pentecost looked at Hermann. “I’m convinced there is a better explanation for this.”

Hermann took a deep breath. With an effort, he spoke clearly. “I told him twice that I did not need his help, but he disregarded this and grabbed my arm, which—I suppose I interpreted as a threat? I don’t—I don’t like it when people touch me, especially suddenly.”

Marshall Pentecost nodded. “Understandable. I’ll have a chat with him about personal boundaries.” He turned and picked up his cup.

Hermann made an incoherent questioning sound of confusion. “Am I—is this—”

“I think it’s clear you don’t intend to do it again, Mr. Gottlieb, and considering that you were provoked, I’m prepared to drop the issue.” And he _almost_ smiled.

“No of course not.” Hermann felt his body sag as he finally relaxed in relief, and Newton put an arm around him as if worried he was going to collapse onto the floor. “Thank you, sir.”

“So, for future reference, you don’t like being touched by people you don’t know or people in general?” asked miss Mori.

That was a complicated question because some people he’d known for years he still didn’t want to touch him. He barely understood his own methods of determining who was and wasn’t allowed to touch him, so he went with the easy answer, “Anyone.”

“OK but Newton is touching you right now,” Tendo pointed out.

Newton, to his dismay, started to let go of him. “Should I not be?”

“No! I just—most people? Newton is an exception.”

“Aww dude!” said Newton, giving him a little squeeze.

“Shut up,” said Hermann, not wanting to explore why Newton was an exception to this rule right now, and definitely not out loud in front of an audience. He just knew it was true.

“I feel special!” said Newton.

“Well, If I weren’t used to having you around by now I’d be a basket case,” Hermann justified. Newton gently shook him back and forth, and Hermann sighed in soft exasperation. “And I didn’t say you were allowed to manhandle me!”

They were some of the last people back to their rooms because Hermann hung back to tackle the stairs when they weren’t crowded. Newton stayed with him all the way. Hermann was glad he hadn’t decided to leave without him.

“Feeling better?” Newton asked as Hermann was struggling with his lock.

“I will once I’ve slept.”

“Right. By the way, anytime someone tries to grab you, you can just pull me in front of you and I’ll yell at em for you. Y’know, if you don’t feel like beating em off yourself.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“G’night Herms.”

Hermann let go of the lock to tug Newton closer to him. Newton hugged him and he leaned into the touch, letting the last of the night’s tension melt away.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Mm-hmm,” said Newton, shuffling across the hall with a yawn. “Proud to be your exception, dude.”

Hermann stood still for a moment, noting that the distress he’d left this room in had been replaced with a pleasant warmth, then stepped inside and slid the door closed behind him. He could think through this later, when he’d slept. The Shatterdome was finally quiet, his sheets were soft and he felt safe and held.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so you know that scene where Raleigh grabs Pentecost’s arm and Pentecost looks like he’s going to spontaneously combust from anger? He gets it.  
> And Newton ABSOLUTELY gets thirst follows from unsuspecting biology students who suddenly see his entire shaved torso flexing across their dash to show off the kaiju tattoos. I bet he posts like... 75% normal stuff and talking about his work and oh hey I got a coffee and then suddenly "wow my tattoos look great in this lighting!" *practically naked selfie* then right back to talking about his work


End file.
